Eastern Iowan stars in “Beautiful” musical, but won’t be singing

An Iowa native is playing one of the lead roles in the touring Broadway production of “Beautiful – The Carole King Musical,” which makes its Iowa debut tomorrow night.

Curt Bouril was born in Cresco and grew up just north of Davenport in Eldridge. After 14 months on the road, he says this is a big personal homecoming.

“I don’t know how everyone else feels when we go through their home town or home state but I’m really excited,” Bouril says. “I haven’t ever performed in Iowa, other than at the University of Iowa theater department.”

After graduating from the UI in 2001, Bouril moved to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career and is now living in New York City. Still, he says he’ll always be an Iowan –and proud of it.

“I’m one of those Iowans who gets really excited every time they see an Iowa license plate to see what county it’s from, ‘Oh, Polk,’ ‘Oh, Scott,’ ‘Oh, Howard,’ or whatever,” Bouril says. “If I see a tiger hawk somewhere, my wife rolls her eyes because she’s from Massachusetts, but I immediately go out of my way to say ‘Go Hawks’ or give them a honk on the road, so I’m really excited to come home.”

The show “Beautiful” showcases the early life and career of the groundbreaking singer-songwriter Carole King, who became one of the most successful solo acts in history. Bouril plays one of King’s mentors, Don Kirshner, and while it’s a musical, Bouril says he’s the only member of the cast who doesn’t sing.

“I don’t warm up, I do my own vocal warmups for the show to be ready to act, but everyone else has to sing and dance and perform,” Bouril says. “I’m very lucky when it comes to this role because I’m not musical. I get to go on and tell the story and be part of the book and part of the drama and all of this, but I don’t sing.”